TENNIS

Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the singles semifinals at the ASB Classic on Friday in Auckland, New Zealand, then extended their first-time partnership to reach the doubles final.

Williams beat Laura Siegemund 6-4, 6-3, and Wozniacki defeated two-time defending champion Julia Goerges 6-1, 6-4.

Both will face American opponents in the semifinals on Saturday. Wozniacki will play Jessica Pegula and Williams will play Amanda Anisimova.

BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL: Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Madison Keys and defending champion Karolina Pliskova reached the semifinals in Australia.

Osaka beat Kiki Bertens 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, Kvitova defeated qualifier Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-2, Keys beat Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-1 and Pliskova eliminated Alison Riske 7-6 (6), 6-3.

ATP CUP: Rafael Nadal lost a singles match for only the second time since July but teamed up with Pablo Carreno Busta to win the deciding doubles in a match tiebreaker as Spain beat Belgium to advance to the semifinals in Sydney.

David Goffin earned a 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Nadal, after Roberto Bautista Agut gave Spain a 1-0 lead.

Second-ranked Novak Djokovic rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Denis Shapovalov of Canada to clinch a semifinal spot for Serbia against Russia. Spain will play Australia.

ROAD RACING

KIPROTICH BANNED: Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, the former world record holder for the men’s marathon, has been provisionally suspended for doping violations.

The 37-year-old Kenyan was charged with two breaches of anti-doping rules, the Athletics Integrity Unit said.

“The AIU confirms a provisional suspension against Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich of Kenya for whereabouts failures & tampering,” the body said.

Kiprotich broke the marathon world record in Berlin in 2013, finishing in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 23 seconds. A year earlier, he won the bronze medal at the London Olympics.

SOCCER

RACISM: A Manchester City fan was banned from attending soccer matches for five years after pleading guilty to using racist language toward one of team team’s players, Raheem Sterling.

Ian Baldry, 58, was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service within the next 12 months by a court in Manchester.

U.S. MEN: Former U.S. forward Brian McBride has been hired to succeed Earnie Stewart as general manager of the men’s national team.

OLYMPICS: The United States was drawn Thursday night into a difficult group with Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic in men’s qualifying for next summer’s Olympic soccer tournament.

Group B includes Canada, El Salvador, Haiti and Honduras.

Qualifying for North and Central America and the Caribbean will take place at Guadalajara, Mexico, from March 20 to April 1. The top two teams in each group advance to the elimination round, and the semifinal winners on March 30 qualify for the 16-nation men’s tournament in Japan.

The U.S. did not qualify for the 2012 or 2016 Games.

GOLF

EUROPEAN TOUR: Tapio Pulkkanen led by a shot at the halfway stage of the South African Open after a 5-under 66 in Johannesburg.

The Finnish golfer was at 11 under overall and held a slim advantage over England’s Sam Horsfield (68) and four South Africans – Jayden Trey Schaper (67), Thriston Lawrence (65), Jaco Alhers (66) and Trevor Fisher Jr (67).

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